“Startup funding: Streamlining venture capitalists and business angels” is the theme for the 2nd UTEN Workshop 2012 that will run in collaboration with the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program. This two-day workshop targeted at Technology Transfer Officers (TTO’s) and Start-Up Companies aims to increase the awareness and knowledge about the key aspects to successfully get venture funding in the US.

A renowned expert from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Robert Unetich, will present his views on how to approach Venture Capital (VC). Robert M. Unetich is an active member of several Pittsburgh based venture capital firms, including Pittsburgh Equity Partners, and he is an active angel investor.

“Strategic Investor vs. Venture capitalist/Business Angel”; “Venture capitalism in the U.S”; “Ways to approach a venture capitalist”; “What are the expectations of companies interested in coming to U.S. from a foreign country”; “Risk vs. Return” are some of the questions up for discussion.

Robert UnetichRobert M. Unetich is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) with a degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1982, he co-founded Information Transmission Systems Corporation (ITS) and, as President, grew it until its acquisition in 1996 by ADC Telecommunications, Inc. Robert retired in 1997 and became an Adjunct Professor at CMU in that year, teaching Entrepreneurship and Engineering Economics. In 1999 he co-founded Applied Electro-Optics with two CMU professors. In the 1980s Robert Unetich was the winner of the regional SBA Entrepreneur of the Year Award and in the 1990s he won the Ernst &Young regional Entrepreneur of the Year award. He has been directly involved as a founder or lead investor in eleven startup companies. Moreover, Robert holds two US patents and has several patents pending. Presently, Robert Unetich owns and operates a consulting firm known as GigaHertz LLC (www.gigahertzllc.com) and continues to perform lecturing assignments with engineering students at CMU and the University of Pittsburgh on business, innovation and entrepreneurship.